Football – Spain – La Liga
Sunday 17th May 2015 – Kickoff: 1900hrs
Sevilla clawed back a bit of their pride when they earned a point away at Celta Vigo last weekend following a 3-2 home defeat to Real Madrid the week before.
The hosts now have the chance to restore home pride this Sunday when they take on struggling Almeria and they’ll no doubt be keen for normal service to be resumed on home turf where they’ve lost just once all season in La Liga.
But with just one defeat from their last twelve, there’s no need to press the panic button on Sevilla who have guaranteed themselves of Europa League football next season, with the chance of overhauling Valencia in fourth place and a tilt at qualifying for the Champions League still a very real possibility.
Sevilla’s overall home record stands at a very impressive 12-5-1 36/12 and they’ve been ahead at half-time on 12 occasions from their 18 home matches to date. In addition, they’ve kept a total of 12 clean sheets so far which is another point in their favour for this clash.
Visitors Almeria suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Malaga last Sunday which meant they still remain very much amidst the relegation pack as they’re just two league places and one point above third from bottom Granada.
Only two matches remain of the Spanish top flight season so a trip to Sevilla is probably not on the top of Almeria’s wish-list right now, and their situation doesn’t appear to improve with the prospect of hosting fourth placed Valencia on the last day of the season.
Their away record stands at 5-1-12 14/34 and they’ve lost their last six on the road on the trot having conceded 15 goals and scoring just 1 in reply. Indeed, they’ve lost eight of their last nine on their travels, so this doesn’t bode well for them here this afternoon.
Sevilla have won 7 of their 9 matches at home against bottom half opposition so this encounter represents a great chance to get back to winning ways here. I’ll back them for the half-time/full-time option as this looks a good situational play for the hosts who could take this perhaps 2-0.
Pick: Sevilla HT/FT @ 1.61 bet365
